APPRAISAL

Air Pollution Policies foR Assesement of Integrated Strategies At regional and Local scales

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Air quality in Europe is still facing a continued wide-spread of exceedances, particularly regarding PM, NOx and O3. The 2008 Air Quality Directive requests Member States (MS) to design local and regional plans and assess their impacts on air quality and human health. MS have therefore developed and applied a wide range of modeling methods to cope with these obligations. Today, with the revision of the EU air quality policy pending, there is the need to consolidate and assess the research results in the field and to make them accessible to policy makers. This is the main aim of APPRAISAL project, split in the following objectives: -Undertake on overall review of the methodologies used in different countries, from the simple (scenario analysis) to the more comprehensive (cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness analysis). This would include evaluating top-down and bottom-up approaches to systematically analyze their strengths and weaknesses and to identify key areas to be addressed by further research. The result would be captured in a readily updatable, user friendly relational data base. -Design an integrated assessment (IA) modeling framework where existing components are efficiently inter-connected, produce guidelines describing the key components of best practices. A number of test cases will be explored to confirm the robustness of the guidelines in practice. -Communicate with key stake-holders and in particular to policy-makers the state-of-the-art scientific knowledge on emission abatement assessment. APPRAISAL includes 15 highly experienced groups working on both air quality and health impacts assessment. Partners come from all over Europe to guarantee the review process representativeness. A group of stakeholders will closely be connected to the Consortium to ensure a direct line of communication with key policy makers. APPRAISAL will contribute to improved knowledge on regional and local IA methodologies and will support the revision of EU air quality policies.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Improved techniques and guidelines are investigated for assessing emission reduction policies to improve air pollution in urban areas.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

European cities and urban areas are constantly exceeding air quality limit values, compromising the health and well-being of citizens. Particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and ozone are the three main pollutants that are harming our health, underscoring the need for tougher measures to combat air pollution. Against this backdrop, the EU-funded project 'Air pollution policies for assessment of integrated strategies at regional and local scales' (http://www.appraisal-fp7.eu (APPRAISAL)) is investigating new tools and methodologies to select air pollution policies.

The project is reviewing integrated assessment methodologies used in EU countries to evaluate air quality policies and impacts. It is working on a new general IAM framework to meet policymakers' needs and articulating guidelines for implementing IAM frameworks based on best practice examples. The project team is also transmitting cutting-edge methodologies to stakeholders and policymakers, strengthening knowledge on emission abatement measures evaluation and identifying future research topics.

Importantly, the team has already built a database of research projects and air quality plans at local and regional levels. The online database has been structured around five themes, namely synergies across spatial scales, air quality assessment approaches, health impact assessment, source apportionment and uncertainty/robustness.

APPRAISAL is currently working on better ways to asses cost-effective policies, documenting future expected levels with/without abatement measures related to air quality levels. Specific recommendations include harmonising criteria and procedures for developing local emission inventories, as well as criteria and procedures for considering the contributions from emission sources outside the Air Quality Plan zone.

Key recommendations for future research and innovation call for more detailed information on abatement measures, as well as guidance for harmonising, developing and using IAM approaches. The team is also recommending better integration of air quality and climate change policies in the IAM framework, as well as developing dynamic impact assessments rather than (time-limited) static ones. Ultimately, these valuable recommendations could help address pollution in much better ways, eventually contributing to a cleaner and healthier environment in urban areas across Europe. The project outputs contributed to the Air Quality Directive Review.